Green shoots of recovery have begun to appear for Prestwick Holdings Plc, the Ayr Scotland-based printed circuit board manufacturer, which has reported the best first half figures for five years. Pre-tax profits were ú411,000 against a hefty ú2.0m loss made last time, on turnover down 18.8% to ú14.2m. Prestwick has also managed to tame its gearing ratio from a ferocious 156% to 11% having removed the previous backlog of creditors. However, despite the turnaround it is still not in a position to pay preference share dividends or ordinary ones either. Prestwick owes ú428,000 on the prefsm which it will pay off once its has built up distributable reserves. Director and company secretary, Alastair McKie, predicts this will start happening within th e next six months but says caution is needed to avoid emptying the kitty. Future growth will come from organic expansion, says McKie; the company has hired 60 staff to enable seven-day operation at its Ayr and Irvine plants. With ú1.3m in the bank compared to a mere ú25,000 this time last year, the company is in a stronger position to undertake acquisitions. But Prestwick has already trodden that road before and turned about and McKie says future targets would have to be irresistible to merit serious consideration.
